Strengthening the palm oil value chain to drive economic growth
ACDI/VOCA and partner Winrock International implemented the three-year Smallholder Oil Palm Support program (SHOPS) in Liberia to strengthen the palm oil value chain and drive rural economic growth.
Improved Palm Oil Value Chain to Benefit Smallholder Farmers
With a focus on the key agricultural counties of Bong, Lofa, Nimba, and Grand Bossa, SHOPS was designed to “fast track” improvements and increase productivity along the entire value chain of Liberia’s smallholder palm oil industry.
The primary product, red palm oil, is used for cooking and to make sweets, soaps, and lotions. The fronds are used for brooms. The chaff and kernel shells are used for fuel. And leftover kernel cake feeds livestock.
While there was an increase in plantation-grown oil palm, half of Liberia’s crop is produced by 220,000 women and men on small farms harvested from forests where it grows abundantly.
With funding support from USAID, the SHOPS project, implemented by ACDI/VOCA,
- increased the productivity and profitability of Liberia’s smallholder oil palm sector
- improved the marketing and trade capacity of this sector
- improved the enabling environment and market support functions
ACDI/VOCA’s partner Winrock International provided technical assistance regarding agricultural production, processing, marketing, and support functions.
